Loading up on the OL
There are two schools of thought when putting together a recruiting class.
You can either sign the best players you can regardless of position in order to simply accumulate talent, or you can opt to sign players that best fit your needs.
OSU coach Mike Gundy opted for the latter in forming his 2016 signing class.
When OSU announced its 2016 signing class, it included seven offensive lineman.
The offensive line was a position of weakness in 2015, and even though all five starters return for 2016, Gundy wanted to bring in more talent in that area.
"We've been deficient in that area for a number of years,” Gundy said at his annual National Signing Day news conference. “We're going on three-straight years of completely rebuilding our offensive line, for a variety of reasons. This should be the final step that will allow us to get back on track for the future, where we can take two or three offensive linemen per year.”
Gundy went to both the junior college and high school route to give offensive line coach Greg Adkins more bodies to work with.
“Two of our guys, Shane Richards and Larry Williams, should be able to help us in the first game,” Gundy said. “Then we have some other guys in the program that will give us some size. You can look and see where they're at.”
The big get for the Cowboys was Tramonda Moore, a 6-foot-4, 350-pound offensive tackle. Moore, from John Marshall High in Oklahoma City, is the No. 1 recruit in the state of Oklahoma. Tyler Brown, who stands 6-foot-6 and 300 pounds, is also a highly touted lineman.
Other lineman who signed includes Dylan Galloway from Coppell, Texas, Teven Jenkins from Topeka, Kansas, and Matt Kegel from Chaska, Minnesota.
“So, we have some size, and we have some guys mature enough to help us out right away,” Gundy said.
The success in getting talented offensive lineman is a credit to Adkins, who is going into his second year in charge of OSU’s front five.
“It is a good fit,” Gundy said. “There's experience that takes place in recruiting and the guys that have been out there 20 years understand the ropes and they have a feel for young men. Some guys can recruit well early in their career, but they aren't going to be as good as if they were doing it for 20 years.
"He has a lot of experience and in some of the places that he had to recruit, they knew him. So he had some carry over there. The trust factor is already set up. There's a lot that goes into recruiting."
One of the things Gundy likes about this group is its versatility.
"I think all of them are listed as tackles, but we'll find guys who can play in whichever spots we need,” Gundy said. “If we need a guy to play center, we'll find a guy to play center. With the guys that are a little more longer and have more reach, we'll put them in the tackle position. From that point on, we'll move back into the guard position.”